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Top Ten Alice Comedies Films

Alice Comedies are a series of animated/live-action shorts created by Walt Disney in the 1920s. This was the first series that the Disney company produced, so these movies are historically very significant. Although most did not age well at all, there are some films here that have stood the test of time and are still enjoyable to this day. Here are ten best Alice Comedies with some honorable mentions.

10. Alice the Peacemaker

This was the first time when this series moved more from live-action to animation. The mouse and the cat battling was amusing and there were some gags that were quite clever and fun here. The visuals were terrific for the time and the action was so well executed. It’s a weakly plotted, but solidly executed flick that is entertaining throughout, so it gets the tenth spot on this list.

9. Alice Gets Stung

Julius the Cat and Alice are hunting a wily rabbit when they come across a bear, among other animals. Alice attempts to shoot the bear, but the bear ends up chasing them into a barrel. This movie suffers from a typical problem of relying too much on animal hijinks and not enough on Alice herself, but at least those gags were mostly solid and the animals are quite memorable, thus Alice Gets Stung got on this list.

8. Alice Gets in Dutch

Alice misbehaves in school and is forced to sit in the corner. She falls asleep and dreams, but schoolwork intrudes even into her dreams. Alice dreams of dancing dogs and donkeys until her fun is interrupted by three walking schoolbooks. This is a flawed short that is weaker than some of its contemporaries due to forgettable live-action segments, but the animated segments were quite strong, well made and quite inventive with the ending being striking.

7. Alice Chops the Suey

Alice is kidnapped by Chinese gangsters and brought to Chinatown. Her cat tries to rescue her, but then they’re hunted by a bunch of angry Chinese Triad members. This is among the better Alice Comedies shorts that effectively transcended its weak and racist plot with strong animation and a very inventive and strong first act. The movie is weaker in the second half, but stellar in the first one.

6. Alice the Jail Bird

Alice and Julius somehow end up in prison and they try to break out of it. This short is hilariously over-the-top and cartoony, but mostly in a good way. Yes, there is no logic behind any of this, but taking the action to such fantastical realms was quite appealing. Some of the action in this short was genuinely inventive and unforgettable. It’s a messy, but fun and crazy short. I wish that more entries in the series had its ingenuity.

5. Alice’s Spooky Adventure

Alice goes into a haunted house where she falls and ends up in a dream where she is surrounded by spirits. The second half of this movie is rushed and uneven, but the first half is great. This is a very well animated and fun romp that is particularly strong in character designs, atmosphere and some inventive animated moments. It’s a horror-oriented short that worked and it’s a shame that the series never returned to this genre.

4. Alice and the Three Bears

This short is quite disliked by most, but I find it to be quite underrated. It’s flawed in character designs and quite strange for sure, but it’s among the more entertaining Alice Comedies due to excellent gags employed, especially in that very fun third act. The fights between the cat and the bears were amusing throughout, but it was the final sequence that saw the cat use his nine lives to help Alice that was particularly inventive, unique and very interesting.

3. Alice’s Day at Sea

This is where we arrive to really great movies. Alice’s trip to the sea inspires her to dream of a visit to an animated underwater world. It is so wonderful witnessing Walt already honing his skills as a masterful storyteller in 1924. There is a sense of great flow, undeniable charm and a lot of personality to this short that made it timeless. It has its flaws, but it’s one of the most enjoyable entries in the series with a particularly strong live-action segment.

2. Alice the Piper

Alice and Julius try to take the rats out of a man’s house to get the monetary reward. This is one of the many cartoons focusing on rats or mice while also being one of numerous Pied Piper adaptations, but it’s a very good one as it finally showcased genuinely strong gags and animation that we haven’t seen since the very first entry in this series. The highlight here is that ending with the vacuum cleaner gags that were crazy in physics-defying cartoon logic.

1. Alice’s Wonderland

Alice’s Wonderland is an iconic Disney short that kick-started the Alice Comedies with a bang. It has a weaker ending, but otherwise it’s a technologically inventive, charming and wonderfully endearing and imaginative short that has stood the test of time gloriously and is still enjoyable to this day. This is by far the most technically accomplished and imaginative movie in the series, one that blended live-action with animation best. It’s a shame that the rest of the series never quite could compete with this stellar first entry.

Honorable Mentions:

Alice Rattled by Rats – This is a familiar cartoon in its cat versus mice narrative, but it was so well executed that it didn’t matter.

Alice the Fire Fighter – This film made solid use of its premise, featuring some of the best uses of Julius in the series.

Alice’s Balloon Race – While I wanted even more from this strong action-oriented premise, the balloon action was fun and the short is among the more entertaining entries.

Alice Loses Out – In this short Julius was the star and the scenes where he is the barber were so much fun and pleasantly silly.

Alice Solves the Puzzle – The strangest movie in the series by a mile, Alice Solves the Puzzle is worth seeing for that weirdness alone.